San Rafael highway connector project study begins

By Adrian Rodriguez | arodriguez@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal

PUBLISHED: October 2, 2024 at 6:11 p.m.

A project designed to unclog a key highway logjam in San Rafael is on the right track, county residents said at a  meeting this week.

The feedback came after a Transportation Authority of Marin “scoping session” on Tuesday revealed greater detail about potential connectivity improvements between northbound Highway 101 and eastbound Interstate 580.

Residents said they liked that planners are focusing on improvements to Bellam Boulevard, the eastern San Rafael street that is routinely overwhelmed by the mixing of local and commuter traffic.

“This represents a substantial change that they’re listening to the community, and they’re listening to San Rafael,” Jeff Rhoads, a San Rafael resident, said of project planners.

The meeting took place at the Marin Health and Wellness Campus on Kerner Boulevard, which is near the project area. The session served as a launchpad for a state-required environmental review of the multimillion-dollar project that will take years to plan and construct.

The project is officially called the “US 101/I-580 Multimodal and Local Access Improvement Project.” Planners aim to improve connectivity to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge while also relieving gridlock on Canal neighborhood streets, among other goals.

If there is no project, traffic patterns on northbound Highway 101 are expected to get worse, increasing the travel time between the Tamalpais Drive interchange and the Bellam Boulevard exit from 13 minutes to 25 minutes by 2040, according to the Transportation Authority of Marin.

The environmental impact report will consider three project alternatives.

Alternative one, estimated between $20 million to $50 million, proposes improvements to the Bellam Boulevard corridor only, with no direct connector between the freeways.

The plan calls for reconstructing the eastbound Interstate 580 bridge that crosses Bellam Boulevard. It calls for a realignment of the Bellam Boulevard offramp from westbound Interstate 580, and a reconfiguration of lanes on Bellam Boulevard in both directions.

The plan includes improved lighting, wider sidewalks, safety enhanced crosswalks, separated bicycle lanes and new landscaping from Andersen Drive to Kerner Boulevard.

The plan also looks at improved bicycle and pedestrian connection to the Cal Park Hill multiuse path, which runs along the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train tracks between San Rafael and Larkspur.

Within alternative one, there are two options for how to treat the Bellam Boulevard intersections east of Interstate 580.

Option A proposes roundabouts at the intersections of Bellam Boulevard and Francisco Boulevard and Bellam Boulevard at Castro Avenue. Option B proposes traffic lights with improved timing.

Alternative two has all the same components as alternative one, but it proposes an elevated offramp from northbound Highway 101 at Cal Park Hill. The offramp would cross Jacoby Street and Andersen Drive and follow Simms Street to merge onto I-580. The cost estimate is $225 million to $290 million.

Alternative three also includes all of the improvements of alternative one. This alternative proposes merging onto eastbound Interstate 580 from an elevated offramp from westbound Highway 101 near Bellam Boulevard. The estimated cost is $200 million to $260 million.

“From a commuter standpoint, I prefer alternative two,” San Rafael resident Jim Draper said. “I think that’s going to do the most good.”

However, Draper said that with more housing planned for Marin, including the workforce housing project near San Quentin, there needs to be more improvements along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as well.

The road is another route for Highway 101 drivers to reach the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Anne Richman, executive director of the Transportation Authority of Marin, said Sir Francis Drake Boulevard has undergone a significant project that extended a bridge-bound lane, improved the traffic light timing and added bicycle and pedestrian upgrades.

“Building any kind of connector on that side of the hill is really challenging,” Richman said. “We have put a fair amount into that Sir Francis Drake corridor already.”

San Rafael city officials and representatives of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition said they prefer alternative one because it provides traffic relief at a lower cost without the need for a new flyover.

San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin, who is a member of the Transportation Authority of Marin board, said alternative one “would benefit local traffic patterns as well as ease regional congestion.”

“We look forward to this going through the public process and receiving additional community input and more details about the environmental impacts,” Colin said.

“Overall, we’re pleased with the direction that the bike and ped improvements are moving,” said Warren Wells, policy and planning director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

Omar Carrera, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Canal Alliance, said the Transportation Authority of Marin has done a good job informing and engaging the Canal neighborhood residents.

Carrera suggested that the project could also include other community benefits such as a day labor center, or an arts and culture program for the area.

“The most important thing is that as we improve our infrastructure in our area, we want to make sure they don’t displace our current residents, and we’re looking at this project in a more comprehensive way,” Carrera said. “That is why participation and engagement is important to us. The project is going in the right direction.”

Carrera said Canal Alliance is partnering with the planners to hold a meeting in Spanish.

Richman said staff is planning more public events and will continue collecting comments for the environmental review through Nov. 15. The draft environmental impact report is expected to take 18 to 24 months to produce, Richman said.

“The voters have expressed interest through approving funding for the project on multiple occasions,” Richman said of the project. “We are continuing to advance the various alternatives to see what improvements make the most sense there.”

Officials have secured $135 million in Regional Measure 3 funding and $16.5 million in Measure AA funding for the project. More information is at marin101-580.com.

Additionally, TAM staffers are leading a separate $9.1 million project to add a lane and improve traffic flow at the Bellam Boulevard offramp. Construction of that project is expected to begin by the end of the year.